Table Of ContentConsumption, Cities and States
Key Issues in Modern Sociology Series
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University, Australia
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Thomas Cushman – Wellesley College, USA
Rob Stones – University of Western Sydney, Australia
Richard Swedberg – Cornell University, USA
Stephen Turner – University of South Florida, USA
Darin Weinberg – University of Cambridge, UK
Consumption, Cities and States
Comparing Singapore with
Asian and Western Cities
Ann Brooks and Lionel Wee
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
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This edition first published in UK and USA 2014
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Copyright © 2014 Ann Brooks and Lionel Wee
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ISBN-13: 978 1 78308 226 1 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1 78308 226 7 (Hbk)
Cover photo: aphotostory/Shutterstock.com
This title is also available as an ebook.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1. Consumption, Reflexivity and
Citizenship in Global Cities 1
Chapter 2. Orders of Reflexivity 19
Chapter 3. Rescaling for Competitiveness 37
Chapter 4. The Dynamics of State–Society Negotiations 53
Chapter 5. (De-)Regulating Asian Identities:
Comparing Asian Cities and States 73
Chapter 6. Citizenship, Reflexivity and the State: Investigating
‘Defensive Engagement’ in a City-State 89
Chapter 7. Governing the Citizen-Consumer: Citizenship,
Casinos and ‘Cathedrals of Consumption’ 107
Chapter 8. Regulating Consumption and the ‘Pink Dollar’ 131
Chapter 9. States as ‘Midwives’ to Cities: Cosmopolitanism,
Citizenship and Consumption in the Modern State 153
References 173
Index 189
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of a number of individuals
in this project. Ann Brooks was supported by a six-month Asia Research
Institute (ARI) senior visiting research fellowship at the National University
of Singapore (NUS) and Lionel Wee and Ann Brooks were supported by a
grant from the NUS toward the production of the book. Both authors are
immensely grateful for this support, without which the book would not have
been possible. We would particularly like to thank Professor Prasenjit Duara,
director of the ARI and Raffles professor of humanities and director of
research for humanities and social sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences at the NUS, for his immense support of the project. We would also
like to acknowledge the support of the migration cluster leader and dean of
the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Professor Brenda Yeoh. In addition the
entire administrative team at the ARI were immensely supportive. A special
thanks to Jonathan Lee from the ARI team for his assistance in designing the
front cover of the book. Both authors wish to acknowledge the encouragement
of Bryan Turner in suggesting Anthem Press to us. At Anthem our editor Rob
Reddick and the entire team at Anthem have been excellent and made the
production process effortless.
INTRODUCTION
In this book we analyze the intersection of consumption and rights within the
context of different states and cities in Asia and the West. We focus on the
concept of the global city and consider a range of contested understandings
within this concept.
We are interested in the cultural economy and political economy of the
global city set in the context of globalization. Stevenson (2013, 38) notes,
‘In “wealthy nations” such as Japan, Australia, and those of North America
and Western Europe, between 72 and 95 percent of the population lives in
cities, whereas in Africa and Asia, the percentage is 38 and 41, respectively.’
Despite the figure for Asia, what is clear is that global cities are becoming
the hallmark of growth in Asia. A key factor in the growth of cities globally
in late modernity is neoliberalism. Theoretical debates around neoliberalism
are thus explored in the chapters of this book. Stevenson observes that
‘Neoliberalism is also implicated in the increasing spatial division and
fragmentation that is evident in cities around the world. Of significance
is a deepening of the inequitable distribution of urban resources, which
although taking a number of forms, is perhaps most highly visible in
residential segregation’ (Stevenson 2013, 26).
Different cities offer different insights, and we draw on the Asian city-
state of Singapore as an exemplar of an aspiring global city. Singapore is
of particular interest because it also serves as a model for many other cities
and states with aspirations toward global city status (see Chua 2011). To
provide a more comprehensive analysis we also draw on a range of cities
in Asia and in the West to highlight parallels and divergences. Secondly,
cities also exist as part of states. This then raises the further question of
whether it might be at all feasible to attempt an exploration of the politics
of global city aspirations without taking into account the relationships
between cities and states. In this introductory chapter we briefly outline
our thoughts on these issues in order to provide some background to the
book.
